This
morning we decided to head down to
Rapperswil
on
the ships
of Lake Zürich. With good weather, the ships
on the Swiss lakes are a most pleasant way to spend
an afternoon or a lunch-time taking luncheon and
merely watching the scenery go by with a glass of
wine in one hand an a copy of the Weekend FT in the other.

The Lake Zürich region, especially around the
Stäfa, area is known in the area for
its white wine, which exactly what I had to accompany
luncheon - a Riesling
x Sylvaner 2008 from Martin Bachmann-Wirth Weinbau
in Stäfa alongside a lunch of medallions
of pork in a morel sauce and veg. Dining aboard
ship watching those very vineyards slowly go past
is pretty close to what Sunday afternoons could be
all about. The meal itself was quite enjoyable, decent
sauce, and the meat nice and the wine made a decent
accompaniment. Either would have been fine on their
own but seemed better together. Another glass and
a dose more sun and I would have been right at home!

One
of the more picturesque parts of the trip from
Zürich
to
Rapperswil
is actual approach to
Rapperswil
itself. The Kloster, originally hidden behind the now demolished city walls, is most clearly visible.
The castle for much of the approach, at this time of year, is hidden behind trees in full leaf and only becomes more
fully visible as the ship comes close to docking. It's almost like watching a short movie of a town being, piece by piece,
revealed to you with bits tantilisingly poking out before being more fully revealed.

Two hours after leaving
Zürich
we had arrived in
Rapperswil
which, especially when it's nice out, is a vibrant little city.
The squares and waterfront are excellent places to sit back for a while with a cup of coffee and people watch.
Which is exactly what we did before, sadly, jumping on the train back to town.

About Mark Sukhija

Mark Sukhija is a travel and wine blogger, photographer, tourism researcher, hat-touting, white-shirt-wearing, New Zealand fantatic and eclipse chaser. Aside from at least annual visits to New Zealand, Mark has seen eclipses in South Australia (2002), Libya (2006), China (2009) and Queensland (2012). After twelve years in Switzerland, Mark moved back to London in 2012. You can follow Mark on Twitter or Facebook